Chelsea vs Arsenal Women's Champions League preview: Where to watch, full lowdown

London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal meet in their UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday 1 April at Stamford Bridge.

What do you need to know?

Both teams had their share of chances in the opening leg of this competition's first single-city derby, but it was holders Arsenal who emerged as 3-1 winners in a game featuring some high-quality finishing.

Both teams will be well aware that a two-goal quarter-final lead is no guarantee of progress; last season Chelsea went through despite losing their opening leg 2-0 at Manchester City, while Arsenal overturned an identical deficit against Real Madrid at the same stage.

The Gunners have already won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Women's Super League this season and Chelsea have been on a rare run of mixed form, not helped by several injuries. Both sides should be able to call on their Australian players on Wednesday, who did not participate in the first leg due to its close proximity to the AFC Women's Asian Cup final (though Kyra Cooney-Cross will not feature for Arsenal).

The Blues, missing several key players injured, have won all six of their previous Women's Champions League quarter-finals but will be wary that Arsenal, at this stage for a joint-record 17th time, were at their best in second legs on their way to lifting the trophy last season.

Arsenal's Stina Blackstenius opened the scoring in the first legArsenal FC via Getty Images

Possible line-ups

Chelsea: Hampton; Buchanan, Girma, Buurman; Bronze, Cuthbert, Walsh, Baltimore; Thompson, Kerr, James
Out: Beever-Jones (ankle), Björn (calf), Bright (ankle), Ramírez (calf)

Arsenal: Borbe; Fox, Wubben-Moy, Laia Codina, McCabe; Little, Mariona; Mead, Russo, Kelly; Blackstenius
Out: Cooney-Cross (personal reasons), Reid (knee)
Doubtful: Williamson (hamstring)

Form guide

Chelsea
Last six games: WLDWWW
Last match: Chelsea 4-3 Aston Villa, 29/03, Women's Super League
Where they stand: 2nd in Women's Super League, Women's FA Cup quarter-finals, Women's League Cup winners

Arsenal
Last six games: WWWWWW
Last match: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur, 28/03, Women's Super League
Where they stand: 3rd in Women's Super League, Women's FA Cup quarter-finals

View from the camps

Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea coach: "Our mentality will be to fight in every game we play. We will be ready to fight again. We were a good team [in the first leg], we need to take that and manage defensive aspects better."

Renée Segers, Arsenal coach: "[The mood in the squad] been good for a while now. We obviously had a good win at the weekend in the North London derby, but we did our debrief as normal and are taking it game by game. We have a lot of experience within this competition, with this group and we know it's going to be a tricky game. It's only half time."

Erin Cuthbert, Chelsea midfielder: "Momentum is so important. When we get the fans on side, they really give us that extra push. I think they can be the difference if we match the performance on the pitch that they want to see."

Lotte Wubben-Moy, Arsenal defender: "When you represent Arsenal Football Club, you feel the weight of the badge. We had a good win on Saturday and we go again into another London derby and that carries it's own weight."

Where is the 2026 UEFA Women's Champions League final being played?

UEFA via Getty Images

Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway, will host the 2026 UEFA Women's Champions League final on Saturday 23 May.

The final will be the first UEFA women's club decider to be played in Norway, although Ullevaal – opened in 1926 and renovated on several occasions since – staged the UEFA Women's EURO final in both 1987 and 1997. It is the regular home of the Norway women's and men's national teams. The 2016 men's UEFA Super Cup was also held in Norway, in Trondheim.